More Than Brothers
by Miyuko Yamada
Summary: Neither would deny that they were close, closer than normal people were. But... maybe... maybe they were a little too close. Marcus/Dom. Yaoi, slash, male/male! M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Hello there, my dearies! I've kinda been planning on doing this for a while, and finally one day, I figured out how to do it! Now this takes place in the 18 months between the second and third game. I've planned through the third game (like seven times) and if you haven't this may not make make a lot of sense. I have it taking place on Sovereign and other random places, but mainly Sovereign. Oh, yeah, this is male/male, yaoi, slash, take your pick. Now I'd like to go ahead and apologize because I'm pretty sure I probably screwed up the characters, so... Well anyway, enjoy. There will be more, I guarantee! I'm currently reading the books too, so that should help me more with characterization. Well, enough of my ramblings, enjoy the story, my lovelies~!

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><p>"How do you like it?" Marcus peeked around the frame of the opened door.<p>

Dom jumped slightly, not expecting the other to show up out of nowhere, "Hey. It's...pretty nice, I guess."

"Yeah, hardly any roaches or mice."

Dom cracked a faint smile, and continued unpacking the few items he had. Marcus leaned against the cold metal of the wide door frame, stuffing his hands into the pockets of jeans. Dom hardly ever smiled anymore, so even something so small carried so much meaning to him. He examined the slightly smaller male, now free of the armor in which he usually wore. He looked so much more gentle wearing normal clothes. However, Marcus knew the comfort of the cotton clothes would not last long, and again they would don their armor and fight at some point, probably sooner than later. The small moment of peace wouldn't last long at all, though it was fun to make-believe while you could.

"You done unpacking?" Dom turned around slightly.

Marcus chuckled lightly, almost sarcastically, "Nothing to unpack."

The older of the two continued inside, sitting down on Dom's cot. Dom could sense something was wrong. A lifetime with someone gave you abilities like that.

"...You okay, man?"

"...You know what this place kinda reminds me of?"

"What?" he half-dreaded the answer he was about to receive.

"Jail."

"The dark undertone was clear in his friends voice. He walked over to Marcus, gently setting his hand on the larger male's shoulder, "Let's go see what Cole and Baird are up to."

Marcus only grunted in response, though Dom knew it was one of approval, and rose, leading the way out of the smallish room with Dom following close behind. The commander of Delta squad figured the two would most likely be celebrating in the rec room Sovereign had, where a small welcome party was being held.

It had been a few months since the sinking of Jacinto and now that everyone had become a Stranded, they had dispersed, each and everyone going separate places. Delta squad's home was currently abroad Sovereign... at least for the time being. Soon they would be dropped to investigate the mainland for a while, seeing whether it was inhabitable or not, searching for any supplies that would most definitely be needed, things like that. And while these orders were not given yet, everyone knew that they were right around the corner. The four of them once again would be left to die for the "greater good". Sometimes, it made Marcus sick, but this is what he had signed up for.

"Hey! Look to finally decided to join the party, baby!" Cole greeted the two almost too excitedly, as he generally did, walking up and patting Marcus's shoulder roughly, in the friendly manner he always had.

The room was filled with Gears, who now looked normal, and cilivans. The newest member of Delta squad, Sam, came out of seemingly nowhere, holding two bottles of beer. She practically thrust one at Marcus, then smiled kindly at Dom and handed one to him. Marcus rolled his eyes.

"I'm trying to get Baird drunk to see how many stupid things I can get to him to say," the woman with a bit of an accent said, sounding slightly intoxicated herself.

Dom half-smiled, continuing inside, taking a sip of the drink, "And how's that going for you?"

"Not so well... Hey Marcus, Anya's getting pretty tipsy though," he smirk quickly turned perverted.

"So?" the dark haired male scuffed, "What the fuck does that mean to me?" he continued on inside, pushing past Sam and Cole almost coldly.

"...Who took his teddy?" the brunette girl questioned before taking a swing from the bottle.

"Not quite sure," Dom responded in almost a whisper before chasing after the other.

Marcus knew it was his childish immaturity getting the better of him. He wasn't really a man of words, but more a man of actions. In fact, Marcus almost dreaded having to ever use words. So as he submerged himself in the sea of soldiers and civilians, he thought about the words he could use, only coming up completely blank.

"Marcus?" it had taken a bit of time to catch up with the other, "You know Sam was just joking, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"...What's up with you?"

"Nothing... I'm fine."

"I've known you long enough to know that that's not true."

"Drop it Dom," the older man's voice hardened.

"...Okay, okay. I get the hint... But at least promise me you'll try to enjoy yourself."

"Yeah. Sure. Fine. Whatever," Marcus was really just agreeing with the other to make him stop worrying.

Dom smiled and patted Marcus's shoulder again, before he turned to walk off, sensing that the other wanted to be left alone. Marcus raised to bottle and took a long drink from it.

"Fuckin' women," Baird walked up beside Marcus, crossing his arms over his chest.

Marcus raised an eyebrow and looked over at the blond who'd appeared spontaneously, "...What?"

"Sam's trying to get me drunk, and I'm pretty sure it's because she's trying to seduce me."

"...Yeah, that's a mental image I really needed."

Baird looked normal not, wearing jeans and a button down collared shirt, though he still wore his goggles on his forehead. As to why, no know knew, but then again, no one really cared to ask.

"...That's a shock," Baird spoke again.

"What?"

"I expected some sort of smartass comment. I mean, I set you up for the perfect gay joke, and nothin'. You're losing it man, I'm tellin' you."

"Sorry about not mocking you. I know you look forward to it _so much. _I kinda need to be alone right now."

"Then I'll leave. But if you see Sam, tell her she's fuckin' delusional."

"Will do."

So Marcus stood, quite shocked he was able to get rid of the annoying blond so easily. He must have really been wearing his emotions on his sleeve. He idly wondered about the room, trying to find words, trying to avoid anyone who would be interested in him. He watched from afar as Sam and Dom talked and laughed and smiled. Sure, Marcus could pretend that things were "okay". He could make jokes, though laughing and smiling weren't really his thing, but hell stuff like that was probably the reason he was still alive. But... things got complicated when it came to the closest person he has to family. And it wasn't like he personally disliked Sam or anything, in fact, she was quite the useful addition to the team. But it was those little hints at Dom, those little comments that meant "hey, I like you" to anyone who wasn't oblivious like Dom, that made Marcus absolutely hate that woman. It was often assumed that Marcus and Anya had "sexual tension" or liked each other, or something like that, but as far as Marcus saw it, not really. And besides, the man had just lost his wife! No one seemed to truly understand the pure agony felt by Dom. No one else was there with him... except Marcus. Marcus had always been there for him.

He knew he was being a bit of a child, wanting to keep Dom all for himself, but Dom was "special". Dom understood what he was trying to say without him saying a single word. Kinda... kinda like a married couple.

Marcus immediately shook that thought from his head. No, he and Dom were nothing like a married couple. They were brothers. He looked across the room at the Hispanic man, pretending to actually be happy, laughing and drinking with Sam and Cole and Clayton Carmine. Even Carmine was dressed down, and even more surprisingly, had his helmet off. Marcus took another long drink, finding it empty. Marcus quickly found another and reconnected his lips to the bottle.

Civilians mixed together with the COG crowd, all excited about the new place they would be calling "home". Even Baird would swing by occasionally and crack a joke. It seemed that Marcus was the only one not enjoying himself.

There wasn't really anything in particular that was bothering him. In fact, things had been going pretty well, compared to how they had been. They had a new place for the time being, a vacation essentially, where they could relax and be normal, rather than deal with the mass amount s of stress that came with being a Gear. But it was only recently that Marcus's mind really started going a bit haywire. Up until a few months previous, Marcus had been able to completely avoid all said thoughts, using excuses like "oh, he's married" and all "weird" thoughts immediately vanished. However, no with Maria gone... all those thoughts resumed. Marcus tried telling himself "his wife just died" , and repeated incessantly "he's a guy!", but that too was of no use, remembering certain things that had happened with Carlos...

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><p>Well, well? What do you guys think about the first chapter? I would really love to hear some feedback! So please please leave a review! Thank you very much!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, hello again, lovely Gears fans! I'd like to apologize with the delay, I've been busy, but now that summer is here, I will try my hardest to update more frequently, but no promises. I've been reading the books, and woopsies, my story is kinda not on track with the books. So really sorry about that, just enjoy the story, and forgive my stupidity. Anyway, I'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I encourage you to review again! I love getting feedback, because it makes me feel like people actually read what I write, which makes for a happy author~! Also, if you just like my style of writing, I do more original gay love stories than I do fanfiction, which I find difficult, so look up miyukoyamada on fictionpress, and you should find me. Thank you a million times over, and well here goes. Enjoy my lovelies~!

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><p>It was now much later in the night, and many drinks later. Dom had decided to take the night off from worrying about Marcus, seeing as he was a grown man who could take care of himself, and tried to lighten up and have fun. However, as the night pressed on, he saw less and less of Marcus out of the corner of his eye, which he guessed he had grown so custom to doing it became habit. He was talking with Carmine when he noticed a crowd that had gathered around a ratty and worn old couch one of the civvies probably donated. It had been covered by a bland gray sheet like object, to make it look somewhat newer, and more "military like", however there were already new stains being left on it. Dom pushed passed the crowd, eager to see what everyone else had gathered to, and what he found upset him to some extent. There sat a sloppily drunk Marcus, almost smiling in that weird way of his that was never quite an actual smile, rambling on and on about stuff even he'd never heard from the man. What Dom managed to hear while pushing through the crowd were tips on masturbating in a room full of people. Immediately, he panicked a bit, knowing that the next day, if Marcus even remembered what he'd said, he would regret it deeply. He walked up to the slightly taller male, and yanked him up roughly by the arm. Dom was practically his brother, and thus refused to let someone so close to him make an ass out of himself anymore than he already had.<p>

"What're you doin'? You tol' me to enjoy myself."

"Sorry guys," Dom said with a nervous laugh, pulling Marcus behind him as he attempted to push his way back out of the still growing crowd, "we have to go now."

Marcus attempted to struggle a bit, but even though he was larger, he failed. The fact that he was shit-face drunk worked to Dom's advantage, and for a split second, he was thankful for it. The younger male continued half dragging the other until they got back to his room. He opened the door one-handedly, and almost angrily tossed the other onto his bed.

Marcus took his do-rag off and tousled his black hair, "I jus' did what you tol' me to," he drunkenly slurred, but still somehow maintained that tone that excreted dominance and assurance.

"Yeah, well I didn't tell you to make an ass of yourself."

Marcus waved his hand as if brushing the other away. Even drunk, he recognized that Dom wouldn't stay angry at him for long.

The Hispanic sighed and shook his head, walking closer to the bed that Marcus was now carelessly sprawled out on, "...Seriously, tell me what's up," even though Dom knew that asking a person this intoxicated a serious question was about as useful as interrogating a wretch about the grubs' plans, he figured maybe his carelessness would let something slip out.

Marcus only grunted quietly in response.

"...Man, I haven't seen you like this since before..." Dom let his voice trail off, not wanting to bring the Slab up again.

The larger of the two sat up in the bed with another low grunt, "I'm not that drunk."

"Bullshit man, you're plastered... But, why would you even want to? Something must really be screwing with you, Marcus," he took at seat on the the edge of the bed, that creaked defiantly under the weight of the two heavy men.

"...Just leave me alone."

Dom felt the sting of the other's words, even though he knew Marcus meant no harm, and that was just his defensiveness. Typically, Dom understood that when Marcus drew the line, he shouldn't even attempt to cross it, but recently he really had been acting really strange, like something was eating away at him. And now was a better time than any to get some sort of insight.

"Not until you tell me what your problem is."

Marcus leaned forward, almost eye to eye with Dom. Maybe, if his mind had been less muddled by the alcohol, he wouldn't have done. But then again... he was a man of action rather than words. Almost too quickly for either of them to grasp was about to happen, Marcus grabbed Dom's jaw between his index and middle finger, and thumb, tilting his head more toward him, and somewhat aggressively pressed his lips to Dom's. Dom's eyes widened at the contact, unlike Marcus's, who's closed, and instantly pushed the other away from him in pure shock. Marcus leaned even closer to the other, moving his hand to the back of Dom's almost buzz-cut head, pressing their lips together again. The older one quickly parted his lips, taking Dom's shocked gasp to his advantage, and thrust his tongue into the other's mouth without warning. Dom could feel a hunger in his closest friend's movements, a heat behind he kiss he'd never felt with Maria. Dom finally realized what was happening, and roughly pushed the taller male away from him.

Marcus stared at the other with a blank expression, "...I love you..." he let his already quiet voice trail off to silence.

"...Marcus..." Dom's voice was quieter than Marcus's, hardly even a whisper, and sounded utterly terrified.

An unrecognizable male voice suddenly burst over the ship's intercom system, "Stalks! Stalks in sight! All Gears to the deck! All Gears to the deck!"

"Fuck!" Marcus cursed as he quickly jumped from the bed, and tripped over his feet, falling to the ground with an audible, painful sounding, thud.

"Stay here, you're drunk!" Dom managed before running out of the room, and back to his to grab his Lancer, and armor up, not wanting to deal with the new problem.

Within what seemed like seconds, he was on the deck of Sovereign, Lancer in hands, all too familiar armor covering him. He took cover behind the closest solid object, and was joined by Baird and Cole not seconds later

"Where the fuck is Marcus?" Baird said, reloading, after emptying his clip on some polyps.

Dom had forgotten that he'd practically ran out of the rec room earlier, after Sam had discovered a bottle of Dizzy's near toxic moonshine, complaining about women.

"Baby, you missed it!" Cole's voice boomed as he leaned over the cover to fire at the glowies, "Marcus is drunk _off his ass_!"

The blond looked to Dom for reassurance that the story was actually true. Dom nodded.

"Oh man! Got me some new blackmail on his ass!" Cole barked a laugh, Delta knowing that he didn't anticipate on ever using said blackmail.

Another stalk emerged and Dom took aim, figuring taking his anger/confusion out on some glowies was better than complaining about it like Baird would've. But the genius engineer had almost earned the right to bitch about whatever he wanted after practically rebuilding... well, everything.

Luckily the excursion ended as quickly as it appeared, though the mass of Gears stayed on deck, watching and waiting patiently, until about midnight, when they collectively decided to turn in for the night. Dom almost sulked back to his room tiredly, and rid himself of the armor, opting to just drop it on the floor rather than to organize it, and put it where it needed to be. He exited the room, feeling twenty pounds lighter, and walked the quiet empty hallways biting down heavily on his bottom lip.

Did Marcus know? And if he did... how did he find out? Dom had been very careful, not saying anything to anyone, not looking at him in anyway one might consider strange. And Marcus didn't seem to be the person who enjoyed messing with people in that way. But then again, he was drunk; he probably had no idea what he was doing, what he was saying. Hell, he probably thought that Dom was Anya.

Dom strolled around the hallways, and somehow ended up at Marcus's door. He pushed it open and peeked inside, finding Marcus sleeping. Dom had learned over the years to tell when Marcus was really actually sleeping, or just faking it. He could even tell when the other was having a nightmare. But the man lay sleeping, peacefully for once. The Hispanic smiled to himself, before quietly shutting the door, and returning to his own room.

"Fuuuuuck..." Marcus quietly groaned as he woke with a throbbing headache.

He wasn't really one to complain, and god knows, he'd suffered much worse than this before, but still, a pounding hangover was never a pleasant thing to wake up to. He continued to lay stationary in his bed, only moving to roll flat onto his back, closing his eyes, and focusing on the drone of noise outside his door. He heard Baird and Cole walk past, Cole poking fun at Baird, and Baird coming back with a sarcastic comment. He realized that this would become a daily thing, because his room was on the way to the showers. Marcus sighed and sat up, head throbbing even more. As he gathered his things and started toward the shower, he tried to recollect him memories from the night previous, only coming up completely blank. The last thing he remember clearly was drinking so he'd stop thinking about Dom. And that was it. He still wore his clothes from yesterday, and there was nothing suspicious around him, so all was good, he figured.

He walked into the showers, and back to one of the stalls, silently thanking that it was not one of those open showers like in the Slab. Marcus undressed and began showering, pleased that Dom was nowhere in sight. However, Cole and Baird quickly noticed his entrance. Baird smiled, and Cole 'whoo'ed.

"Hey, drunkard!" the blond greeted from across the room. Though he hadn't actually been present for Marcus's drunk stories, from what he heard from Cole, a playful teasing was definitely in order. Could he have picked a better place? Well, yeah, but whatever.

All attention immediately focused on Marcus. A mischievous grin found it's way onto almost every male in the room's face.

"So tell us, oh-phenomenal-leader-of-Delta-squad, how many times has Anya turned you down? I think I've forgotten."

Marcus just rolled his eyes as everyone began talking at once.

"Yeah, and what was that about the _things_ you had to do in prison?"

"Yeah, ha ha, guys. I was drunk, big fuckin' deal."

Baird and Cole, who were actually close to Marcus, took that as their queue to shut the fuck up, or get punched.

"Yeah, and you know, we really missed you up there last night, you know, defending Sovereign and all."

Marcus turned and glared at the Gear who'd said that, "...Tell me... do you like the sight of your own blood? 'Cause I guarantee that I've probably saved your dumb ass before. So if anyone else wants to make some dick comment, go right ahead! I got a Lancer back in my room, and I don't mind sticking it up your ass and using the chainsaw!" Marcus didn't raise his voice often. But when he did, he reminded people why it was they were all kind of scared of him.

The shower fell silent except for the splashing of water. Marcus continued on with his shower like nothing had happened, "That's what I thought..."

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><p>Well, well? What did you think? Are you mad at me? Do you love me? Anyway, thank you very much for reading! Please review!<p> 


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